The Black & Yellow U23s are all set for their Regionalliga clash away to Fortuna Cologne on Sunday afternoon (kick-off, 14:00 CET). Coach Mike Tullerg will be hoping his young side can carry over the momentum from their strong performance against Mönchengladbach and secure a long-awaited three points.

There are certainly less daunting opponents for BVB to face than this Fortuna side, who, after being relegated last term, had a complete squad overhaul over the summer. It therefore came as no surprise that they took some time to get going this season, but since the end of September, SC have been the team to beat in the division. The side led by Head Coach Thomas Stratos have gone on an eight-match unbeaten run, including big wins against RW Essen and Lotte. The Rhineland-based side, who go into Sunday's match-up off the back of a 1-0 win away to TuS Haltern, are currently placed ninth in the table. BVB, for their part, are down in twelfth, although it should be noted that the Black & Yellows have two games in hand. The last meetings between the two sides date back to the 2014/15 season, when both teams were playing in the 3. Liga. Back then, Borussia drew 0-0 away in Cologne and lost 2-0 in Dortmund.

It will be an afternoon to remember for BVB defender Steven Ruprecht: the veteran centre-half moved from the Rhine to the Ruhr in the summer transfer window. He made a total of 20 appearances for Fortuna in last season's 3. Liga campaign before parting ways with the club after relegation. It's highly probable that Ruprecht will be named in the BVB starting line-up: the injury to Marco Rente means that coach Mike Tullberg is faced with a lack of options at the heart of defence. There's nonetheless some good news on the injury front: Taylan Duman made his return to action last week and is therefore available for Sunday afternoon's match in Cologne.